Years ago, a college boyfriend left my bed to go home. His mother honed in on the brassy streaks and pulled them off with what white girl are you seeing?So, I'm still plucking, gathering up small tumbleweeds in my palm, clues that deny brown coiled inside me.

Psalm of the Sunflower By Antoinette Brim Willow Books, September 2009 Excerpt from "A small house by the sea":

She sometimes thinks of leaving but only recently finished decorating the house. Everything has a place. She's put everything in its place. How could she take it all apart, pack it all away. Where would she go anyway, though she longs for a small house by the sea. A place all her own, where she can look out at the water and get a sense of forever.

Sometimes a child can save your life: burn your throat on fermented lullabies instead of Jim Beam, save your liver from happening to cirrhosis and his friends, make you playground and run like a cholera victim to pick up antsy soccer kids. A child gives you another day and the best thing for you is another day.

Prayers Like Shoes By Ruth Forman Whit Press, December 2009 Excerpt from "When We Were Not Looking":

This war take a toll on you hear it in your laugh thinner than it used to be still hug me in your voice though and i hug back

is a writer, speaker, author of books for adults and youth, and the book columnist for The Root. Her most recent book is \"The Message: 100 Life Lessons from Hip-Hop’s Greatest Songs.\" Visit her at feliciapride.com.